DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Maria Cano Martinez newspaper clippings and interpreter position documentation, 1978-1997 | 1978-04-02 Des Moines Sunday Register Article: ""Hospital interpreters overcome language barriers"" by Frances Craig

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Maria Cano Martinez newspaper clippings and interpreter position documentation, 1978-1997

1978-04-02 Des Moines Sunday Register Article: ""Hospital interpreters overcome language barriers"" by Frances Craig

IOWANS AT HOME/PEOPLE DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER APRIL 2, 1978/3E

Hospital interpreters overcome language barriers. 

By FRANCES CRAIG
Register Staff Writer 

IOWA CITY, IA - A family from Muscatine speaks only Spanish and they have brought their elderly cancer ridden grandfather to University Hospitals. 
They stand in a lobby, fearful and tongue-tied but within minutes a diminutive woman in a white coat greets them in Spanish:
" Me Ilamo Maria Martinez, a sus ordenes" - " My name is Maria Martinez at your service."
The family's anxiety falls away like a discarded serape. Maria has some to the rescue as she does every week for the many Spanish-speaking patients who find language a barrier. 
Fifty-one-year-old maria is an interpreter, translator, friend, social worker and confident for those she claims as "my people." Mexican born, she grew up in Iowa City and became a hospital secretary who feel into the needed task of translating for patients. 
Nearly three years ago, administrators at the hospitals looked at the valuable service she was performing between her secretarial duties. They asked her to put her dictation books away, naming her the head of a new patient translation service. 
Last year, the service was expanded to include 26-year-old Ozzie F. Diaz-Duque. Studying for a doctoral degree in romance languages, he interprets French and Portuguese as well as Spanish, and he interprets sign language for deaf patients. 

Foreign patients 

Between them, Maria and Ozzie interpret for 15 or 20 patients per day, some from as far away as Brazil or as near as West Branch. 
They assist with registration procedures and escort patients to clinics or in-patient areas, translate doctors' instructions or test results and assist in hundreds of other situations which would be routine for an English speaking patient. 

[caption]
Mr. and Mrs. Edmundo Bianchi of Venezuela, who speak only Spanish were glad to meet Ozzie Diaz-Duque at University Hospitals in Iowa City. He explains medical terms to them in their own language. 
[end caption]

The barrier of communication extends beyond language to include culture as well. Here, an interpreter must work as a two-way buffer to explain to hospital staff why a family refuses a procedure which is necessary to good health but foreign to their culture. 
Choosing to have an operation, for example, often is a matter of family discussion among Spanish-Americans, Maria says. " It's hard to say, Sorry Doctor, but the family will let us know when they've decided"
Likewise she explains to the patient the need for specific actions - the need for women to get undressed and put on a hospital gown , for example: " You have to understand the extreme modesty of my people. I've been in this country 43 years, and I've never overcome it."
" They will come around but are unbelievably embarrassed. This is as it should be," she says " You can't expect a whole big hospital to stand still for one ethnic group" 

Among patients at University Hospitals with a language barrier, Spanish-American patients outnumber others: there are nearly 30 million Hispanics in the United States, with Latinos likely to become a dominant minority in the country, Maria points out. 
" Muscatine, Mason City and Des Moines all have big populations." Also, Spanish-speaking patients come from beyond the borders to University Hospitals which is prestigious among medical institutions. For example, a couple from Venzuela recently brought their daughter to the hospital for treatment of muscular dystrophy. neither parent spoke English so the translater service was an attraction. 

[caption]
Maria Martinez, right, is head of the patient translation service at University Hospitals. here she talks with Mr. and Mrs. Porfirio Sequra of Muscatine. Nurse Edith E. Ruppert, left, assists families in the surgical waiting room. 
[end caption]

Challenging cases
Ozzie relates that one of his most involved cases was an Iowa Vietnamese family whose daughter was a patient. Vietnamese often are French-speaking, so " The doctor spoke English to me, I spoke French to the father and he spoke Vietnamese to the girl" 
Translating medical explanations to the deaf he says " You have to be very imaginative. If your fingers just spell the word they won't understand."
For example, diabetes would be a meaningless word. Easier understood is "sugar in the blood" and he says it by cupping a hands under his chin for "sweet" (or sugar) and slithering one hand over the other to say "blood."
Born in Cuba and reared in New York, Ozzie grew up bilingual. Sponsored by the school of medicine and language department, he also teaches a four-credit course called: " Speech for Health Professionals" [Twenty?] two students mainly doctors [?] nurses, are enrolled  some 200 [?] have completed the course. 

[ caption] 
Ozzie Diaz Duque speaks sign language to deaf patient.
[end caption]

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IOWANS AT HOME/PEOPLE DES MOINES SUNDAY REGISTER APRIL 2, 1978/3E Hospital interpreters overcome language barriers. By FRANCES CRAIG Register Staff Writer IOWA CITY, IA - A family from Muscatine speaks only Spanish and they have brought their elderly cancer ridden grandfather to University Hospitals. They stand in a lobby, fearful and tongue-tied but within minutes a diminutive woman in a white coat greets them in Spanish: " Me Ilamo Maria Martinez, a sus ordenes" - " My name is Maria Martinez at your service." The family's anxiety falls away like a discarded serape. Maria has some to the rescue as she does every week for the many Spanish-speaking patients who find language a barrier. Fifty-one-year-old maria is an interpreter, translator, friend, social worker and confident for those she claims as "my people." Mexican born, she grew up in Iowa City and became a hospital secretary who feel into the needed task of translating for patients. Nearly three years ago, administrators at the hospitals looked at the valuable service she was performing between her secretarial duties. They asked her to put her dictation books away, naming her the head of a new patient translation service. Last year, the service was expanded to include 26-year-old Ozzie F. Diaz-Duque. Studying for a doctoral degree in romance languages, he interprets French and Portuguese as well as Spanish, and he interprets sign language for deaf patients. Foreign patients Between them, Maria and Ozzie interpret for 15 or 20 patients per day, some from as far away as Brazil or as near as West Branch. They assist with registration procedures and escort patients to clinics or in-patient areas, translate doctors' instructions or test results and assist in hundreds of other situations which would be routine for an English speaking patient. [caption] Mr. and Mrs. Edmundo Bianchi of Venezuela, who speak only Spanish were glad to meet Ozzie Diaz-Duque at University Hospitals in Iowa City. He explains medical terms to them in their own language. [end caption] The barrier of communication extends beyond language to include culture as well. Here, an interpreter must work as a two-way buffer to explain to hospital staff why a family refuses a procedure which is necessary to good health but foreign to their culture. Choosing to have an operation, for example, often is a matter of family discussion among Spanish-Americans, Maria says. " It's hard to say, Sorry Doctor, but the family will let us know when they've decided" Likewise she explains to the patient the need for specific actions - the need for women to get undressed and put on a hospital gown , for example: " You have to understand the extreme modesty of my people. I've been in this country 43 years, and I've never overcome it." " They will come around but are unbelievably embarrassed. This is as it should be," she says " You can't expect a whole big hospital to stand still for one ethnic group" Among patients at University Hospitals with a language barrier, Spanish-American patients outnumber others: there are nearly 30 million Hispanics in the United States, with Latinos likely to become a dominant minority in the country, Maria points out. " Muscatine, Mason City and Des Moines all have big populations." Also, Spanish-speaking patients come from beyond the borders to University Hospitals which is prestigious among medical institutions. For example, a couple from Venzuela recently brought their daughter to the hospital for treatment of muscular dystrophy. neither parent spoke English so the translater service was an attraction. [caption] Maria Martinez, right, is head of the patient translation service at University Hospitals. here she talks with Mr. and Mrs. Porfirio Sequra of Muscatine. Nurse Edith E. Ruppert, left, assists families in the surgical waiting room. [end caption] Challenging cases Ozzie relates that one of his most involved cases was an Iowa Vietnamese family whose daughter was a patient. Vietnamese often are French-speaking, so " The doctor spoke English to me, I spoke French to the father and he spoke Vietnamese to the girl" Translating medical explanations to the deaf he says " You have to be very imaginative. If your fingers just spell the word they won't understand." For example, diabetes would be a meaningless word. Easier understood is "sugar in the blood" and he says it by cupping a hands under his chin for "sweet" (or sugar) and slithering one hand over the other to say "blood." Born in Cuba and reared in New York, Ozzie grew up bilingual. Sponsored by the school of medicine and language department, he also teaches a four-credit course called: " Speech for Health Professionals" [Twenty?] two students mainly doctors [?] nurses, are enrolled some 200 [?] have completed the course. [ caption] Ozzie Diaz Duque speaks sign language to deaf patient. [end caption]